Worries about supply disruption in major Opec producers are the most striking reasons for record oil prices of $72 a barrel.

Beyond the headlines, the energy complex has been propelled higher by an array of factors.

Nigeria, Iran, Iraq

Buying gathered momentum after rebel attacks in Nigeria forced the closure of around 500 000 barrels per day (bpd) of high quality oil, favoured by refiners for making gasoline.

Oil consumers also fear supply disruption from Iran, which like Nigeria is an Opec producer. Iran, the world's fourth biggest exporter, is locked in a dispute with the West over its nuclear programme.

Iraq is struggling to get its oil industry back on its feet. Its exports have stagnated at around 1.3 million bpd, compared with around 1.7 million bpd under Saddam Hussein.

Fears about supply disruption are so marked because Opec's spare capacity has been squeezed to around two million bpd.

Products drive

Adding to concerns about tight supplies of unrefined crude is a global shortage of refining capacity, exacerbated by new fuel regulations in the United States.

Traders worry that refineries will not be able to produce enough gasoline of the right quality for this year's peak US summer driving season, beginning in May.

Most US refiners will stop using methyl tertiary butyl ether, or MTBE, which has been found to pollute water supplies, and switch to ethanol instead.

Refining capacity is already tight after years of underinvestment and after the US industry took a battering in last year's hurricane season.

Meteorologists warn that there may be another heavy hurricane season on the way this summer.

Funds

Strong commodity markets have attracted institutional and retail investors, who tend to buy for the long term.

The most straightforward way for these investors to access raw materials, ranging from base metals to oil, is through commodity indexes, led by Goldman Sachs Commodity Index and the Dow Jones-AIG Commodity Index.

These major indexes have grown to more than $80bn, though the precise impact on oil markets is hard to judge.

Demand

While previous price spikes have been triggered by supply fears, the current four-year rally has been so sustained because it has been driven by demand, notably from China.

Demand growth has slowed but is still rising and price strength has so far had a very limited effect on economies.

At talks in Vienna earlier this month, finance ministers from Asia and Europe predicted global economic output expansion of 4.5%, compared with 4.3% in 2005.

Analysts say the world is coping well with high nominal prices, because in real terms, adjusted for exchange rates and inflation, they are lower than during previous price spikes and the world has become less energy intensive.

But they say the $70-a-barrel mark is the level at which even oil market bulls begin to worry about the impact on growth and the possibility that demand will be destroyed.

Cape Town - The father of one of the men in whose possession a murdered actor's credit card allegedly was found, burst into tears after their court appearance.

The murder of Crazy Monkey actor Brett Goldin and his friend, Richard Bloom, was "inhuman", said upset Mogamat Shaheed, father of Shawaan Marlie, 25.

Marlie appeared briefly with Clinton Davis, 23, and Rameez Zayeed, 23, in Cape Town magistrate's court on Tuesday after stolen goods allegedly were found in their possession.

The start of the case failed to throw any light on the mysterious circumstances under which the two men were killed on Saturday night or early on Sunday morning.

Their naked bodies were found next to each other in a field next to the off-ramp between the M5 and Klipfontein Road.

Police apparently found Goldin's credit card on Sunday morning after the three men were arrested in Camps Bay for "suspect behaviour", said superintendent Billy Jones of the police.

Not asked to plead

The courtroom was packed with shocked family and friends.
Davis and Marlie are from Kensington, and Zayeed from Newfields.
The three were not asked to plead and were not told what they were being accused of.

Magistrate Herman van der Merwe postponed the case to April 21.
Two more suspects were arrested on Monday in Crawford near Athlone in connection with Goldin and Bloom's deaths.

Shaheed said Zayeed and Marlie had been neighbours for a while.

He didn't want to comment on how close the relationship was between the three men, saying "I don't know all my son's friends".

He then burst into tears and was supported by another son.
He told Die Burger tearfully: "I'm speechless. I'm very upset."

No banned substances in their blood

Police refused to provide any information about the results of the post-mortem, which was completed on Tuesday.

When asked whether the victims had been sexually molested, Jones simply said "no".

He also denied that any banned substances were found in their blood.

The black Polo, in which Goldin and Bloom left a party in Camps Bay on Saturday night, is still missing.

Riversdale - Between 50 000 and 60 000 ''horrifying'' photos of girls between the ages of nine and 14 form part of the ''boxes full'' of pornographic material found near Stilbaai in what police say could be regarded as one of the worst child pornography cases the country has seen so far.

Rosa Maria Toich, 19, and Allen Harmony, 36, appeared again in the regional court at Riversdale on Tuesday in connection with the case.

They were arrested on December 5, 2005, at Karate Farm near Stilbaai after boxes full of videos, computers, digital cameras and hard discs with thousands of explicit photos of young children were found in their possession.

''The material is very bad,'' according to investigating officer inspector Ashley Michaels of the Mossel Bay unit against domestic violence, child protection and sexual offences.

''The investigation will take a long time still, because there are 21 hard discs full of pornographic material. Then there are also boxes full of videos,'' Michaels said.

The police's technical investigation unit in Cape Town still has to work through all the material and number the photos, Michaels explained.

''Last week we received more new information from the public, and we're busy following it up.''

Michaels said some of the photos might have been taken as long ago as 2001, ''but we can't say for sure''.

At least five girls from Stilbaai were involved. Apparently the girls were enticed to the house on the farm with promises of home teaching.

''Some of the five are with their parents, others are in places of safety. We suspect more girls might have been involved,'' she said.

Two security guards helped load stolen money in last month's heist at Johannesburg International Airport, the Kempton Park Regional Court heard on Wednesday.

This emerged when the investigating officer, Peter Mbobani, was cross-examined during the bail application of nine people arrested since the March 25 heist.

Mbobani said Themba Phutsitsi, 33, was employed by Khulani Security and Annanius Nepfumbe, 33, of Protea Aviation Security, he said.

Allegations of police brutality

Phutsitsi, who was on crutches, had come to court from a prison hospital, his lawyer Alpheus Denga told the court.

Denga said his client had been assaulted in custody and challenged Mbobani on whether he knew why Phutsitsi had had an injury since his arrest.

"It is strange," said Mbobani. "He was handed over to me and I detained him on March 30.

"Before I detained him I asked if he had any complaints or injuries and he never said anything."

Denga told the court that Phutsitsi had wounds on the testicles and penis.

$77 000 stashed in Venda

The court heard that Nepfumbe has shown police where some $77 000 had been stashed in Venda. His lawyer, Nico Swart, put it to Mbobani that his client had been given the money by a soldier.

Mbobani replied: "Yes, the soldier is one of the suspects and one of the planning team."

He also revealed during cross-examination by Pieter Wilkens, an advocate representing Airports Company of SA (Acsa) operations manager Nazir Ismail, that further suspects police wanted to arrest were in Zimbabwe, Nigeria and Angola.

The investigating officer also told the court that another of the accused, a duty manager for the Acsa at the airport, Rookaya Ebrahim, 35, could move money that had still not been recovered from the heist if she were granted bail.

Some of the money that had been recovered was found in her possession, he said.

Possible links to other robberies

Mbobani said that among the nine accused there could be suspects in two other airport robberies, one last year, and the other in 2004.

They are accused of a massive heist of US dollars at the airport on March 25.

Another accused Bhekithembo Khumalo, 34, has died after being shot by police.

During the heist, gunmen held up guards at the airport gates. Others armed with AK-47 assault rifles held up guards and police at a South African Airways aircraft and helped themselves to bags of currency flown in from Britain.